The Final Trial of Kovu
by Rogue-Lion
Summary: A TLK2 One-Shot: All his life Kovu had trained and honed his skills in the Out Lands under his mother's guidance. Now, as the time for Kiara's firsts hunt approaches, the dark prince has one more task to complete to prove that he is ready to face and defeat Simba. Will he succeed in his final test, or will this forever change how he views his destiny, his family... and Scar.


**Hello again everyone.**

 **This right here is a little One-Shot story I made in honor of Candy Man 234's Birthday. Yippe!**

 **So this right here is a story that takes place during the time of TLK2, right before Zira sends Kovu off to infiltrate the Pride Lands. He had one thing he had to do first, one last test to complete to prove that he was ready to face his destiny. This my friends** is **the Final Trial of Kovu.**

 **Enjoy!**

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In the Out Lands, there is only one rule that truly mattered: the strong must prey off the weak to survive. Today, it was time to see where Kovu fell in this wild food chain. All his life he had known nothing but hardship and suffering but soon that would all come to an end. His pride and family were counting on him to overthrow Simba and reclaim the Pride Lands, but to do that he needed to accomplish one final mission, one final trial to prove that he was ready to take on the Lion King.

As the young male walked in the middle of a rocky ravine, deep in Out Lands territory, he couldn't help but feel a slight wave of anxiety pass over him. Ever since he was a cub his mother, Zira had subjected him to intense training. She would make him spar with her and the rest of the pride, live for weeks alone without his pride to assist him, strike rocks with his paws until they bled or until the rock broke, and once she even had him outswim a float of crocodiles. This trial was different however because Zira told him that it would be his last… and most difficult.

" _Today you will face your final test, my son."_ Kovu remembered his mother's last instructions as he continued to walk through the ravine _, "Before we move forward with our plans we must take care of one last little problem. In the deepest most barren corner of the Out Lands lives a rogue lion. He poses a threat to our operation and everything we stand for. Normally I'd take care of such matters myself, but instead, I want you to handle this, Kovu. Find this lion and tell him that he must leave the Out Lands. If he refuses… kill him. Only then will you truly be ready to face Simba and avenge Scar."_

Kovu took a deep breath and tried to keep his mind clear in order to focus on the task at hand, but he found it very difficult. Despite being trained to kill, all his life, he never really killed another lion before. Sure, he had taken down antelope, and wildebeest, and even killed a few hyenas in self-defense; but this was different. Now he was being charged with killing a lion, a lion who could pose a threat to everything his mother had worked for. Kovu knew that he had to find a way to stop this rogue, but if it actually came down to killing him, he didn't know what to do.

Eventually, Kovu reached the end of the chasm where a large ominous cave was buried into the side of the rocky wall. As Kovu stepped up to it, hot sandy air blew out ruffling his chestnut brown mane. Inside the cave was nothing but a pitch-black scenery. It was like staring into the gaping maw of a monster's lair. Part of Kovu was telling him to run back home, retreat, to forget about this entire thing, but he pushed those thoughts aside for they were the thoughts of a frightened cub.

He was now a lion, and he would act like one.

"Come out!" Kovu shouted in a menacing tone, his voice echoing through the pitch-black cave, "I know you're in there!" Kovu got into a fighting stance, ready for whatever would respond. There was no response, which got Kovu a little on edge. He was told that this was the place where the rogue was living. If he wasn't here, then that must mean he had been misinformed. Kovu was about to turn and walk away, but then…

Tap… tap… tap… tap…

Kovu's ears flicked and his adrenalin rushed to his head as he looked back towards the darkness. Where there was once silence, there was now the sound of footsteps echoing from inside the den. Kovu once again got into a fighting stance, ready for what was to come. He mentally prepared himself, but it was difficult. With every step the sound grew louder, and louder and louder, making Kovu unnerved and nervous beyond all understanding. Finally, in the darkness, a figure emerged that left Kovu speechless.

It was a lion, but one like he had never seen before. He was massive, towering over him as if he was a cub. His body was covered in battle scars and old wounds but what really got Kovu's attention was his fur. His pelt was brown, and he had a similar dark mane like his own. If it wasn't for the scarred muzzle, Kovu and this lion could have been twins. Still, none of that mattered right now. This was the rogue, so he was the enemy.

The rogue stopped right outside of his den and just looked at Kovu. The moment he saw the young male he breathed a deep sigh and shook his head in dismay. This wasn't what Kovu was expecting at all. His mother told him that this rogue was a great threat, yet here he was not even trying to get into a fighting position or even attack Kovu for that matter. This still didn't distract Kovu as the Outlander prince kept his fighting stance ready and his emerald eyes narrowed at his opponent.

"Boy," the massive lion finally spoke in a deep and rather annoyed tone, "Why do you disturb my rest? Are the Out Lands so dull that you must pick a fight with an old lion to find amusement?"

"I come here on behalf of Zira and my pride," Kovu stated, trying to sound intimidating, "She wishes you to leave the Out Lands, or else." Upon hearing this, the lion raised an eyebrow at Kovu, wondering if this guy was serious.

"So…" the rogue shook his head in dismay, "Zira has resorted to sending cubs to do her dirty work for her? I was hoping she would come to speak with me herself, but instead, she sends you. That coward."

"Do not speak of my mother that way, you filthy rogue!" Kovu growled, now feeling anger flair inside of him for what this stranger just said about his own mother, "She sent me here because you are not worth her time!" Kovu was still prepped for a fight, yet this rogue was still acting as if he was having a simple conversation with another lion.

"I used to be worth her time," the rogue replied as he looked at Kovu with a sad smile on his face, "Now tell me, why are you here?"

"I just told you," Kovu straightened his posture a bit, trying to get at eye level with the rogue, "You will either leave or I'll make you leave."

"That is what you will do to me, but that's not the answer to my question," the rogue replied once again, "Now tell me boy: why did Zira send you?" Kovu was silent at first for he thought the rogue knew the reason he was here. Since it was unclear, Kovu decided to explain.

"My mother sees you as a threat," Kovu stated as he began to pace in front of the rogue. He was now more casual, but he still kept his guard up in case this lion tried something, "We will be moving on the Pride Lands soon and she claims that you are against us. Is that true?"

"I am against Zira… not you." The rogue stated simply, "She's just like Scar. The moment something or someone is no longer of use to her she will cast them aside. She did it to me, and when she once again controls the Pride Lands she will do it to you as well. You are just like me: expendable."

"Liar!" Kovu growled, "Don't you know who I am? I'm Kovu, the true heir of Scar! The Pride Lands were once our kingdom, but Simba took it away from us! Scar took me in but Simba cast me and my family out! You know nothing of what I've had to go through in order to take back my kingdom!" There was a moment of silence as Kovu and the brown lion just stared at each other. While Kovu held an angry expression, the rogue just looked at him with pity, and regret.

"You're right," the rogue sadly replied, "I don't know what you've been through, nor do I wish to." Having said that, the rogue began to walk away.

"Where are you going?" Kovu sternly asked.

"To see Zira," the rogue replied as he continued to walk, "If what you say is true then I have to speak with her before the Pride Lands becomes a battlefront." The rogue only took a few steps before Kovu jumped in front of him and bared his teeth.

"You're not going anywhere." Kovu narrowed his eyes at the rogue. The old lion's expression grew firm when he saw the defiance that Kovu gave him. Despite being half his own size and far less experienced, Zira's son stood in the rogue's way. Some would consider that bravery, but the rogue looked at this as foolishness.

"Boy…" He warned, "stand aside. My business is with Zira, not cubs trying to prove their worth."

"Not happening." Kovu replied in a similar tone, "You either leave now or I'll make you. Choose." Neither lion backed down at the other's request. With the rogue towering over Kovu the young male was having second thoughts about all of this, but he couldn't back out now. He had trained for so long and endured so much to be bested by a stranger.

"Very well then," the rogue said with a solemn tone in his voice, "Zira's madness must stop, but if ending your life means saving scores of innocents then so be it. I've given up hope for you long ago anyway." Kovu saw the rogue's claws unsheathe just in time to react. The Outlander prince dashed out of the way right before the rogue took his face off.

The time for talk had ended.

Kovu sized up his opponent and began to circle him, trying to see what he was dealing with. This wasn't like a fight against one of the malnourished lionesses from his own pride. This lion was well fed, muscular, larger, and had clearly been in far more fights then he had. The only thing Kovu could do now was remember his training and rely on his mother's guidance on how to fight.

"Think boy," the male slowly began to copy Kovu's walk by circling him as well, "I've fought much stronger animals than you. Do you really think you have a chance?"

Kovu then ran straight at the lion. The rogue lifted his paw to counter strike but right before he could land a blow, Kovu feinted the attack and retreated to a safe distance. Kovu then began to repeat the process again and again until finally, the rogue was beginning to grow tired of not hitting him.

"You must be joking." The rogue mused as Kovu once again feinted an attack and ran a safe distance away, "Do you think you can win by tiring me out, boy? This isn't one of your mother's pathetic training sessions!" in saying that, the lion bolted towards Kovu, catching the young male off guard.

Kovu saw the massive beast charging straight at him and tried to dodge but it was too late. The rogue body slammed Kovu, sending his body flying into the rocky chasm wall and fell onto the sandy ground.

"I can fight like this all day, boy." The lion smirked, thinking that he won the battle. His confident smile, however, quickly turned into a frown.

"Heh… what do you know." Kovu teased as he stood to his feet, "So can I." The rogue Growled and charged once again, raising his paw to strike Kovu. This time, however, Kovu didn't retreat. Instead, he charged at the rogue, causing the lion to quickly strike at him. However, while the paw was in mid-swing, Kovu lunged at it and caught it in his jaws.

The rogue roared in pain as he could feel his bones crunch as Kovu dug his teeth into his paw. In a desperate attempt to escape, the rogue began using his free paw to strike Kovu repeatedly in the head. Kovu tanked the first 2 blows, but by the third, he began to get disoriented and let the paw go and backed away. The rogue instantly stepped back and began to seethe in pain as his now mangled left paw dangled on the end of his leg.

"You little brat!" the rogue roared as he began to limp a bit, "It's going to take a lot more than a broken paw the take me down!" the rogue then charged at Kovu again. Kovu tried to focus, despite his head throbbing with pain, and get back into the fight. Yet the moment he looked up he saw the rogue was once again right on top of him.

Standing on his hind legs the rogue sent his good paw crashing down onto Kovu's side. There was a sudden pop and Kovu roared in agony as he tried to back away from the attacker, but the rogue wouldn't let him. Instead, he pressed his attack and began scratching at Kovu's back while trying to get the back of Kovu's neck in his large jaws to crush. Kovu pushed through the agonizing scratches while trying to move his neck away from the rogue's mouth.

Kovu could feel the lion's hot breath roaring on the back of his head which enticed him to get away as quickly as he could. He tried to pull away, but the rogue's paw kept him firmly in place. That's when Kovu tried to look to his surroundings to help him out.

In a desperate move, Kovu scratched the ground with his right paw and flung sand over his shoulder and into the rogue's face, stunning him long enough to get away. As Kovu collapsed near the side of the chasm wall, he let out a scream of pain as he landed on his cracked ribs. Ignoring the pain the best he could, Kovu looked back at the stunned lion and took in his situation. He was outmatched in strength and experience and this lion had a high tolerance for pain. He thought that breaking his paw would slow him down, but it barely did anything. If something didn't change soon… this lion was going to kill him.

While the rogue roared in agony, trying to get the sand out of his eyes, Kovu looked around to see if there was anything he could use that could help him. Since he couldn't rely on his own strength and skills to win this fight he needed something to turn the tide. That's when he saw it, mere feet away from his head, jutting up out of the ground was something that he had seen all throughout these caverns but never really thought about using it in a fight. It was a little unconventional, but with his life on the life, Kovu was willing to try anything.

This was his only hope of bringing down his opponent.

Eventually, the rogue lion recovered and looked to see Kovu on the side of the wall with his back turned to him. He was pulling at something, but he couldn't see what it was. It didn't matter though. This young lion was about to complete his journey through the Circle of Life.

"I know it's a little late for advice," the rogue taunted as he walked toward Kovu's back, "but I'm surprised Zira didn't teach you the most important rule of all: never turn your back on your opponent." Having said that, the lion lunged towards Kovu in an attempt to crush his neck with his jaws when suddenly…

SHINK!

The rogue gasped as he felt a tremendous pain on his right side which caused him to clumsily fall on top of Kovu in a heap. It all happened so fast the rogue didn't even realize what happened until he was on the ground. Looking back, he saw half of Kovu's body sticking out from underneath him and in Kovu's jaws was a small stalagmite… sticking into the rogue's side.

Kovu breathed heavily while still clutching onto the stalagmite, making sure it was indeed bedded into the rogue's side. Seeing that his opponent wasn't getting up or trying to struggle anymore, Kovu released his weapon and breathed a sigh of relief. He then pulled himself out from under the rogue's body and staggered to his feet, fighting the pain in his ribs. It took him a minute to catch his breath, but Kovu quickly realized that the rogue wasn't getting up.

He did it… Kovu won.

"Heh…" Kovu's head jerked at the sound of the raspy laugh, "Guess… you got me. Eh?" The rogue was still alive, but it was clear that he wasn't going to survive. His raspy voice and heavy breathing was an obvious sign that he did not have long to live.

"You brought this on yourself," Kovu said, not out of pride but rather out of pity. It wasn't the first time he'd seen a lion die, just the first that actually died by his own paws.

"Yeah… you're right." The lion let out another laugh, "Though… it's fitting… I think… that I die here… by my greatest failure."

"What?" Kovu asked, not understanding what the rogue meant, "What are you talking about?"

"Still…" the rogue continued, not paying attention to Kovu's words, "at least I know that Zira's plan for revenge… will be her undoing."

"Explain yourself!" Kovu demanded, trying to intimidate the lion to reveal what he meant. The lion, still emotionless and not angered, looked over at Kovu, his killer, and smiled.

"She… never told you about me. Did she… son?" upon hearing this, Kovu's eyes widened and he took a step back.

"What did you just call me?" Kovu gasped.

"Oh come on, kid," the lion groaned in pain, "don't tell me… you haven't figured it out yet. Look at me!" Kovu looked at the lion, questioning what he was being told. There was no way this rogue could be his birth father. Zira told him that his father had passed away before he was born and that they had all been taken in by Scar. Yet, the more Kovu looked at the fallen lion, the more he saw that it was simply not true.

The rogue's fur and mane color were very similar to his own. They even shared the same emerald eyes. To top it off, he somehow knew a great deal about Zira and her doings. Only those closest to Zira knew about her past, and this lion seemed to know about them all too well.

"I can tell by your face that you believe me." Kovu looked back at the fallen lion, who was now wearing a rather victorious smirk, "That's good… at least today wasn't a total waste."

"How?" Kovu gasped as he looked at the lion in shock, "My father is dead."

"Well…" the lion let out another weak laugh, "He's about to be anyway." The lion then felt the pain increase, telling him that he didn't have much time left. Lifting his head to see his killer better, the dying lion asked: "Tell me… kid… what's your name?"

"Kovu…" Kovu replied, "My name is Kovu."

"Kovu?" the lion repeated with a laugh, "Of course she'd name you after him."

"What about you?" Kovu asked, surprising the dying lion, "What's your name?"

"Chumvi…" The lion replied, his voice beginning to weaken, "Though… that doesn't seem to matter much now… does it?" the rogue then began to cough as he rested his head back on the ground. With his eyes looking up at Kovu, he wheezed: "Zira… thinks she's won. But… you're not… like her. I… can tell."

"What do you mean?" Kovu asked as he stepped towards the dying rogue.

"You… didn't want… to kill me." Chumvi smiled, "You… have a heart… kid. You know… what's right and wrong. When the time comes, I know you'll make… the right… choice…" having said that, the rogue closed his eyes and breathed his last breath.

For a moment, Kovu just stood there in shock as he looked at the still body. This rogue… was his father. Zira just made him kill his own father and she never told him who this lion truly was. The only thing that Kovu could think about all this now was: why?

 **'**

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 **'**

It took Kovu some time, but he eventually made his way back home to his pride. Despite having a broken rib and scratched up back, Kovu strode into the main termite mound with a serious expression on his face, not showing any sign of pain. He wanted nothing more than to go to the back and just sleep off the wounds, but Kovu refused to show any signs of weakness when he spoke with his mother. Even though he had completed his mission, the rogue's words still rung in his head.

He talked about Zira betraying him, about being used, and about how he would be Zira's undoing. This shook Kovu's world for his mother and family were all he knew. He loved them, yet that rogue, Chumvi, he seemed so sincere. One way or another, Kovu would get some answers from Zira about all of this.

As he walked towards the center of the den, he prompted himself upon a large boulder and stood up straight and tall. The moment he did so, he heard footsteps coming from the other side of the den. He looked to see none other than his mother Zira come into the light. Both mother and son just looked at each other for a moment in silence. Kovu didn't have to say anything, Zira knew that her son completed his task.

In the silence, Kovu dared not speak out against Zira for he knew his mother would not take kindly to accusations. He hoped and prayed to the Great Kings on high that she would tell him why he had to do it; why he had to go and kill his own father whom he never met before. He hoped she would give him closure with what had just happened and tell him how Chumvi posed a threat to everyone. Yet all Zira gave him was a wicked grin and three simple words that made Kovu's blood boil with rage.

"You… are… ready!"

 **The End**

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 **So there it is! The final trial of Kovu.**

 **If you liked what you read then leave a comment in the review section and also follow me to stay updated on some of my latest works.**

 **Hope you all enjoyed, especially you Candy Man. It's the closest thing I could think of for a birthday present. Always remember that your work and life has value no matter what happens.**

 **Anyway, guys, this is Rogue Lion signing off**

 **(Salutes the Audience)**


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